Finger nail paint guard



1956 M. J. SAWYER 2,771,082

FINGER NAIL PAINT GUARD Filed Nov. 6, 1953 INVENTOR Mhkzm 1/. 622 Myer BY WW ATTORNEY United States Patent FINGER NAIL PAINT GUARD Miriam J. Sawyer, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application November 6, 1953, Serial No. 390,448

1 Claim. (Cl. 132-73) This invention relates generally to the class of toilet articles and is directed particularly to improvements in manicur devices.

An object of the present invention is to provide a device to facilitate the application of polish to the finger nails by providing a guard means at the side of the finger nail to prevent the polish from getting on the flesh at the sides of the nail.

Another object of the invention is to provide a guard device for the above stated purpose which is designed in a novel manner to press down the flesh at the sides of the nail to facilitate the application of polish thereto, in the manner stated.

A further and more specific object of the invention is to provide a guard device comprising a base member and a disk supported on the base and in spaced relation therewith by a resilient spacer body, the disk being provided with a number of peripheral recesses of graduated diameters and being formed of a flexible or resilient material which, when a finger is inserted between the disk and the base with the nail of the finger extending at its forward end over the top of the disk, the disk will flex upwardly to apply downward pressure to the skin or flesh at the sides of the nail and thus separate the flesh from the sides of the nail to prevent the polish material from getting on the skin.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming a part of the specification, with the understanding, however, that the invention is not to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described since obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

In the drawing:

Figure l is a view showing a device constructed in accordance with the present invention, in perspective and illustrating the use thereof.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken transversely of the device substantially on the line 22 of Figure 1 and showing in dotted outline a finger in position on the device.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing the numeral generally designates any suitable support, such as a table or the like upon which the guard device may be placed for use.

The guard device comprises a flat base member which is generally designated 12 and which is here shown as being in the form of a disk although a device of any suitable shape can be employed.

2,771,082 Patented Nov. 20, 1956 At the center of the base member there is fixed an upstanding pin or rivet 14 which passes centrally through a circular spacer body 16 which is formed of a suitable resilient material such as rubber or the like.

Upon the top of the spacer member 16 is supported a 'disk 18 through the center of which the rivet 14 passes. The disk 18 is sufficiently loose on the rivet 14 to permit the rotation of the disk as desired and also to permit a slight canting of the disk by the compression of the spacer 16, for the purpose hereinafter set forth.

The disk 18 is formed of a suitable flexible or resilient material such as celluloid, plastic or the like and it is provided around its periphery with the arcuate recesses 20 of different sizes or diameters to receive the different fingers.

As will be clearly seen from the drawing, the device is used by inserting the tip end of a finger, as indicated at 22, in a recess with the nail overlying the top edges of the recess. If, upon the insertion of the finger, it be pressed down against the base 12, the flesh at the opposite sides of the finger will flatten out so that portions thereof will underlie the side edges of the recess which will tend to pull the flesh away from the side edges of the nail by reason of the down pressure exerted by the overlying edge portions of the nail on the disk, which down pressure will cause the portions of the disk, at opposite sides of the recess, to flex upwardly, substantially as shown in Figure 2 at 18a. Thus the nail is to be readily painted or polished without fear that any of the paint or polish which may be brushed over the edge of the nail will be smeared on the flesh since, as is evident, that any such smearing will be on the surface of the disk.

From the foregoing it will be seen that there is provided by the present invention a relatively simple but eflicient guard means for the purpose set forth.

In addition to the disk 18 flexing in the manner shown it will also be seen that if the disk is relatively stiif the rubber supporting or spacer member 16 will function to produce the same action as the flexible disk in that after the finger is placed in the recess and the pressure released the disk can be canted by the compression of the spacer at the side of the latter opposite from the finger.

I claim:

In a finger tip guard for use in painting the finger nails, a flat circular base, a cylindrical spacer member of a compressible material centered on the base, a circular disk of a flexible material centered on said spacer member and having a series of substantially arcuate recesses formed in equidistantly spaced relation along the edge thereof to be engaged by the tips of the fingers with the edge portions of the nails bearing on the edge portions of the recesses and means securing said base, the spacer member and the disk together, the downward pressure of the edges of the nails on the edge portions of the recesses causing the latter to pull the flesh away from the edges of the nails to prevent any smearing of the flesh with the paint.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,020,100 Boyd Nov. 5, 1935 2,479,601 Bransfield Aug. 23, 1949 

